I couldn’t find enough info on these online so I thought I’d get one for myself and try it. I also didn’t currently have a mil/mil scope so I thought I’d get one and get used to MRAD rather than using MOA for everything.
The Cabela’s Covenant 7 is a Chinese-made, 34mm tube, in 3-21 or 5-35 magnification. They’re value priced, going on sale for $350-450 once in a while, but they include features of more expensive scopes like an elevation zero stop, 7x magnification multiplier range, scope shade, large elevation range, and magnifier throw lever. But is the glass and build quality good enough to justify buying a scope like this? Note: comments are on the Canadian-available scopes, different models may be available in the US.
Elevation and Zero Stop
From the factory, the zero stop is set to stop the scope at the middle of the available range. You’ve got 18 mil (~60MOA) of up travel, and 0 down. If you get a rail and adjust the zero stop, you can unlock a ton more elevation: up to 36 mils or 120 MOA of total range: though you’d need a very steeply canted rail to make use of all that range.
This elevation range is pretty good for the price! Most scopes at this price point have 60-90 MOA of total elevation, while this one has 120 MOA. I guess that’s one advantage to using that roomy 34mm tube. Very handy if you want to go really long range.
To set your zero stop, you remove the top turret and then snug up the two little allen bolts on springs that sit inside. Easy to do, but you do need the appropriate allen keys on hand to do it.
Specs
- FFP or SFP (I’ve only seen the FFP ones out here)
- 3-21×50 or 5-35×56
- “Christmas tree” reticle
- The 3-21 has 11 MRAD of holdover marks on the reticle, but you can only see 9 MRAD when fully zoomed in
- Length: 13.8″ (3-21) or 15.4″ (5-35)
- 0.1MRAD per click
- Tube diameter: 34mm
- Elevation with zero stop at middle: 18 MRAD or ~60 MOA, all up
- Max Elevation with zero stop disengaged: 36 MRAD or ~120 MOA
- Hash marks on turret body so you can see how many turns you’re at
- Comes with: sun shade, and magnifier throw lever
Covenant 7 vs Covenant 4
Covenant 4 scopes are available at Cabela’s for around $200-$250 when they’re on sale. The differences are:
- 34 mm tube on Covenant 7 vs 30mm on the 4
- Cov4’s come in FFP or SFP (I’ve only seen FFP Cov7’s, but I think they make them in SFP as well)
- Larger magnification range on Cov7: 3-21 or 5-35 vs 4-16 or 6-24 on Cov4
- 60MOA total elevation travel on Cov4 vs 120 MOA on Cov7
- No zero stop on Cov4, no included sun shade or mag throw lever
- MOA adjustments on Cov4 vs Mil on the Cov7
Both scopes have mushy-ish clicks, OK glass (but not fantastic), and are bargain priced.
Cons
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so what do you miss with this scope compared with a more expensive target scope?
- 34mm tubes are still a pain in the ass to get rings for. Expensive, harder to find.
- Glass is OK in the middle of elevation but not amazing. At elevation extremes (cranked all the way up or down), it’s pretty bad.
- No lifetime warranty (I think these are covered for 90 days?)
- FFP reticles adjust based on magnification so at 3X, it looks pretty dumb
- Turret clicks are a bit mushy, have some slop, and are not as nice as fancier scopes
- The elevation turret only goes 6 mil per turn (nicer mil scopes go 10 mils per turn or more)
How I have mine installed
Mine lives on my NS522, a heavy barrel bolt action 22LR. I’m running a 25MOA base.
The 25 MOA base will let me use 85 MOA of internal adjustment, plus I’ve got 11 Mil on the reticle (~37 MOA) = 122 MOA (or 35 MRAD) of holdover, give or take. That should get me to 600 meters with high velocity 22LR or 500 with standard velocity 22LR. I could get more by using Burris Signature XTR rings, but I think this is enough because spotting/confirming hits on 22LR at this distance becomes a pretty big challenge.
Huge on Features, low on cost
People looking at this scope are probably comparing it with the Vortex Diamondback Tactical, Athlon Argos BTR, and other $400-550 mid-price range scopes. I think the biggest advantage of those scopes isn’t in features, it’s warranty. Athlon and Vortex have fantastic warranties, this scope does not. Cabela’s scopes used to have lifetime warranty as well, but they do not any longer. This scope does have big feature advantages like zero stop, higher mag range, higher elevation range, and a scope throw lever. It’d make this scope a good contender for 22LR PRS sports like NRL22 in the US or ORPS/CRPS in Canada: sports where you want precision riflescope features but may not want to blow $1200 on a proper precision rifle scope.
